Explosive and its manufacture



l mented Sept. 3@, 31924.

@NHTED STATE S earner entree.

WALTER O. SNELLING, OF ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOE '10 TROJAN POWDER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OT'NEW YORK.

EXPLOSIVE AND ITS MANUFACTURE.

E60 Drawing.

stabilizing the nitrostarch whereby it may be mixed with many oxidizing agents without resulting harm.

Explosives comprising nitrostarch, ammonium nitrate and water possess certain advantages of insensitiveness and brisance which make them very desirable .for many purposes. The tendency of ammonium nitrate to degrade and decompose nitrostarch in the presence of water is, however, a disadvantageous feature of explosives of this class. I have discovered that if in the preparation of these explosives, the nitrostarch is wet with an aqueous solution of a suitable stabilizing agent instead of with water, it may be mixed with many oxidiz ing agents, such as ammonium nitrate, which would otherwise have the deteriorating efiect previously mentioned. There are many water soluble stabilizing agents which are suitable for the purposes of my invention, as for example, urea, dicyandiamid, trimethylamine, aniline, ammonium borate,

' sodium borate, and other water soluble organic and inorganic materials. I prefer, however, to use as my stabilizing agent urea, or one of the water soluble substituted 'HI'BES.

The amount of the stabilizing of course vary with its nature and the use to which the ex losive is to be put. The following formula represents an explosive agent will,

Application filed December 14., 1920. Serial No. $30,770.

illustrating an'embodiment of my present invention:

N itrostarch 10% solution of urea 10% Ammonium nitrate 40% the actual urea content of this mixture being 1%. The stabilizer being present in the Water and the water penetrating the starch, an intimacy of contact hitherto unobtained is efi'ected.

I am aware that many water soluble neutralizing and stabilizing agents have previously been used in the treatment of nitrostarch which was intended for use in dry nitrostarch explosives, and I am further aware that many stabilizing agents have been included in ordinary nitrostarch explosives, but I am not aware that an explosive comprising as one of its constituents nitrostarch wet with an aqueous solution of a stabilizing agent has heretofore been proposed.

I claim 1 1. An explosive comprising nitrostarch, an oxidizing agent, a stabilizing agent, and a liquid constituting a solvent for the stabilizing agent but not for the nitrostarch.

2. An explosive comprising nitrostarch, an oxidizing agent, and a solution of urea.

3. An explosive comprising'nitrostarch,'

ammonium nitrate, and a solution of urea.

4. An explosive comprising nitrostarch, 50%; a 10% solution of urea, 10%; and ammoniumnitrate 40%.

5. The method of manufacturing wet nitrostarch explosives, which consists in adding to nitrostarch an oxidizing a cut, a stabilizing agent, and a liquid constituting a solvent for the stabilizing agent but not for the nitrostarch.

6. The method of manufacturing wet nitrostarch explosives, which consists in adding to nitrostarch urea, and a liquid constituting a solvent for urea but not for nitrostarch.

WALTER 0. SNELLING. 

